He Remembers
by CheckerboardCheshire
Summary: When you reset the game, you prepare for a mostly fresh game. However, every action has consequences. It doesnt matter how many times you reset. (post pacifist, post abandoned genocide route)
"papyrus, do...you...want anything?"
 **"SANS NO!"** I woke up with a start, my eye burning as orange tears flooded my vision. This was the third nightmare this week. Every time I would attempt to stop the human, and every time I would fail. My soul would be hooked onto the human like a dog on a leash, clinging to what little hope and determination I had. But the human won, the human _ALWAYS_ won. I snuck downstairs to the bathroom and splashed my face with water until I could think clearly. This is fine, everything will be fine it's just a dream. I dug my hands into my skull as I separated my thoughts. I am the great Papyrus, younger brother to Sans and I live on the surface world with my friends and family.  
*sigh*  
I walked up the stairs back to my room. Thankfully no one had heard my breakdown and I should get by tonight without further incident.  
"Papyrus?" I looked down to see the human Frisk staring back up.  
 **"Human? What are you doing up? It's very late you know."**  
"I know I just thought I'd...heard something." I felt a pang of guilt run through my figurative heart. I pinned on my usual smile and led them up the stairs.  
 **"It is fine human!"** I grinned as I walked, trying to keep my facade intact. We had been on the surface for a year and a half now, ever since the anniversary of our freedom had occurred, I had gained these nightterrors. It had gotten to the point where I'd wake up three times before morning came, thankfully Sans had cheered up a lot, he smiled true smiles and didn't sleep as much. It was a relief to see him happy again. I had to admit, I missed the underground. I missed the dream of becoming a member of the Royal guard, the beautiful snowy mornings, and the regular training sessions with Undyne. I tucked Frisk in their bed, they were still my friend. Even if the nightmare version of them had killed everyone, it was just a dream right? As I left the room, I swear I heard a whisper, barely audible.  
"I'm so sorry Papyrus, I didn't mean it."  
 **-morning(Sans pov)-**  
Papyrus looked unusually tired, even for the slow weeks we'd had since we got to the surface. The first three days he was fine, but after then it was like something that had held on for so long had dropped him. He just wasn't himself. He barely seemed to pull himself to the table, yet he appeared alert enough to prevent him from sleeping.  
"sup bro?" He flinched, not a good reaction to a friendly greeting.  
" **Oh, hello brother."** He definitely had something on his mind. I got distracted by Frisk's frantic waving, and remembered what the kid had told me before. I turned back to face my brother, who was half heartedly pouring coffee into an already overflowing mug.  
"so bro, ya gonna tell me what that screaming was about?" He blinked slowly and I cleared my throat.  
 **"Huh?"** I rolled my eyes.  
"you. screaming. really damn loud at 3am or something, you gonna explain or what?"  
" **Oh..."** He stared down at the ground, and I spotted Frisk exit the room in the corner of my eye. He chuckled nervously,  
 **"It's nothing brother! Just a little nightmare, that's all**." He shook a bit before standing up and calling upon his heroic persona.  
 **"It is minor compared to what I, the Great Papyrus, can accomplish."** He must've noticed I wasn't convinced as he used most of his energy to power a booming 'Nyeh heh heh!' before heading up to his room. I felt a tug on my sleeve and noticed Frisk acting a bit impatient.  
"heh, i should probably get you to school huh?" They nodded vigorously, and I couldn't help but chuckle.  
"ok kiddo, you get to the car. i gotta do something first." They bolted out the door, their backpack jangling with various keychains. I calmly reached up for some paper and hastily scribbled a note to Undyne. She was Pap's best pal right? So she'd be the best qualified to help him out right? I hoped so, but I couldn't stick around to find out. I snatched the keys and darted after the kid.  
-Undyne's pov-  
I yawned and stretched my arms. That was the last time I went on an all night anime marathon with Alphys. Speaking of which, the adorable lizard was snoozing peacefully, face pressed into my shoulder. She looked so adorable! But, all cute things must come to an end.  
"Allllllphys!" She grumbled something to the extent of "go away!"  
"Alllllllllphys, it's morning!" I pulled the blinds off of the window. She grumbled again, and buried her face in the pillows. At this point, any normal monster would give up, that being said...  
"ALLLLLPHYS WAKY WAKY!" I ripped off the blankets and picked her up bodily. While still carrying her, I barreled down the hallway towards the kitchen.  
"U-UNDYNE!" Alphys shrieked and I couldn't help but laugh.  
"Okay, now you're awake." I placed her on the ground and walked to the table to see if anyone had left pancakes or something. It wasn't long before a note caught my eye, from the fairly lazy writing it was pretty obvious who wrote it. It read: _Undyne, keep an eye on Papyrus will ya? he isn't himself._  
I knew what he was talking about, Papyrus had become secluded and solitary ever since the anniversary of our escape. But all he'd mentioned back then was a few nightmares. I doubt anything could bring the cheery skeleton down, but if it could we were dealing with something else entirely. A loud crash sounded from upstairs and I ran upstairs hoping it wasn't who I thought it was. I kicked down the first door and looked inside, Flowey's flowerpot had fallen to the ground and the creepy-ass flower had launched into another spiel about how we were all the clumsiest and most idiotic people he'd met. I'd help him up later, at this point Papyrus's location was far more important.  
"Hey Papyrus, where are you?" I didn't hear an answer. I looked through the hallway, opening each door until.  
"BONEHEAD!" I heard a grumbling sound come from the room two doors down. I didn't hesitate in nearly ripping the door off its hinges, only to see Papyrus passed out on the floor. This was the most concern I had felt for the guy since we had started training. I would've been more quiet but the guy was out cold. All I could do was pull his blanket over him and hope for the best. I tugged it over and walked out the door carefully. Alphys, to my surprise, was waiting for me.  
"I-Is he alr-right?" I sighed,  
"About as alright as he can be, but he won't be downstairs any time soon."  
"Oh." She looked down at her feet. We all cared about the goofball, he recent behavior had kept us all on edge. He had always been the happiest of us, but now most days he seemed too tired to manage a smile. We were broken out of our thoughts by a squeaky and angry voice.  
"HEY IDIOTS! DIDJA FORGET ABOUT ME ALREADY." I rolled my eyes. I was ready to strangle that glorified houseplant, but Alphys shook her head.  
"Let's go help him up."

 **Author's note:**  
 **I've been working on this for a while and it seems that this one will probably take longer to update than Voidworn, but this will have mixed themes with a lot of angst towards destroyed timelines, this is pretty fun to write though. Catch you on the flipside**  
 **-CheckerboardCheshire**


End file.
